Golfing aids



1956 F. c. HANSEN, SR 2,771,678

comma AIDS Filed Feb. 15, 1952 INVENTOR. fieJ C. flarrserz 6'7:

GOLFING AIDS Fred C. Hansen, Sn, Detroit, Mich. Application February 15, 1952, Serial No. 271,737 13 Claims. (Cl. 3346) This invention relates generally to a golfing aid which is particularly adapted for use by golfers to improve the accuracy of the hitting of golf balls.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved device of the character described.

Another object is to provide such a device which may be original equipment with the golf clubs or which may be added thereto as an accessory.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a device which aids the golfer in positioning his club relative to the ball so that the ball when hit will go where desired.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a device of the character described which may be simply and easily applied to existing golf clubs.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a device which may be combined with club weighting means for increasing the normal distance which a golfer may drive a golf ball.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent from the specification, the appended claims and the drawings, in which drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic front view of a golf player using the device for orientating his club with respect to the golf ball preparatory to taking a stroke;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view similar to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the portion of Fig. 1 shown within the dash dot circle 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view of the sighter taken substantially along the line 44 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 and showing a modified form of the sighter;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a modified form of the sighter for use on a wood club;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing a further modified form of the sighter as used on a wood club; and Fig. 8 is a view taken substantially along the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, the numeral 1 indicates generally a golfing aid or sighter attached to the shaft receiving portion 2 of a golf club head 3 of an iron type club t which is being orientated with a golf ball 6 preparatory to making a golf shot by a golfer 8 shown in the dash dot line. The golfing aid 1 shown in larger scale in Figs. 3 and 4 comprises a pair of clamping members it) and 12 which have intermediate offset portions 14 and oppositely extending ears 1%. When the members in and 12 are clamped together as shown by suitable means such as the nuts 22 and bolts 20, the portions 14 form a substantially cylindrical hollow opening to clamp against a hollow cylindrical clamping member 16 which is preferably composed of rubber, rubber-like material or other resilient material. The outer surface of the member 16 is preferably cylindrical with shoulders at either end to position the sighter It. The internal aperture of the member 16 is preferably tapered to fit the tapered outer wall of the shaft receiving 2,771,578 Patented Nov. 27, 1956 portion of the head 3. If desired, the side wall of the cylinder member 16 may be cut at one or more places as indicated by the numeral 18 to make it more easily appliable to the shaft 2. The golfing aid or sighter is mounted on the shaft 2 with the ears 15 in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of the hitting face 39 of the club and tends to remain in fixed positionbut, however, it may be slightly rotated relative to the shaft 2 if desired for the purposes to be mentioned below.

The sighter 1 includes a plane determining member 24 which in the form shown in Fig. 3 comprises a piece of ribbon-like material extending diagonally across the width of one of the portions 10 or 12. The angle at which the member 24 extends with respect to the axis of the shaft 2 is determined by the design of the particular type of club or clubs with which it is to be used and is such that the line of sight 28 between the golfers sighting eye and the striking face of the ball 6 will be in the plane determined by the member 24 which is substantially perpendicular to the ears 15. In using the sighter l, the golfer stands in the correct position with respect to the ball 6, places the striking face of the club against the ball as shown in Figs. 1-3, aligns the ears 15 in the direction in which the ball is to be hit and moves the club and his arms until the aforesaid plane determined by the member 24% and the line of sight 28 fall together. In the form shown in Fig. 5 this plane determining member 24A is formed by an outwardly offset portion or embossment in the side wall of the member 12 but in other respects the sighter 11A is the same as the sighter 1.

In Fig. 6 there is shown a modified form of sighter 1B which is particularly adapted for use on wood clubs in which the striking face Hi8 is considerably further forward than the face 30 of the iron club 4. In this form one end edge of the ears of the members 1013 and 12B have been formed at the correct angle with respect to the axis of the shaft 12B to determine the sighting plane along which the line of sight 288 extends.

In the modified form of sighter 1C, shown in Fig. 7, an embossment has been made in one of the ears of the clamping member 12C for determining the plane of the line of sight 28C. In this form, the resilient clamping member 16 has been omitted and a weighted distancer 32C has been substituted therefor. As shown in Fig. 8, the internal aperture 34C of the distancer is of a shape to snugly engage the shaft receiving portion of the head 3C and has its external surface arranged substantially cylindrical. The outer surface is provided with a groove 35C which receives the sigher 1C. The distancer 32C is preferably split into 2 sections which are clamped together about the shaft as by means of the clamping screws 36C and held against rotation with respect to the shaft 20 as by means of the set screw 38C. The distancer may be used or not as desired. If the distancer is used the member 163 is omitted and conversely. The

distancer increases the weight of the head end of the club' and enables the golfer to obtain greater distance.

As above indicated, a golfer using clubs to which the sighter and/or distancer has been affixed, as indicated in the drawings, orientates himself with respect to the ball, aligning the ears 15 in the direction it is desired to hit the ball and then moves the club until the line of sight 2%) falls in the plane determined by the sighting member 24 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The plane determining member 24 is at just the right angle with respect to the particular club so that when the club is so held it will be properly positioned with respect to the ball. Normally the sighter 1 is applied with the ears 15' lying in a plane perpendicular to the striking surface of the club, but if due to the peculiarities of the particular golfer, he continually slices or hooks, then the golfer slightly rotates the sighter l in a direction to overcome such hook or slice after which the sighter 1 will enable the golfer to properly hit his ball in the desired direction.

While I have shown only a few specific forms of the device, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications may be made therefrom and still come within the scope of this invention which is to be determined by the scope of the hereinafter appended claims.

What is claimed and is desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is as follows:

1. An attachment for a golf club comprising, a clamp adapted to be secured to such golf club adjacent to the head thereof, said clamp including a sighting device which extends at the same angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shaft as does the line of sight between the users sighting eye and the ball engaging portion of the striking face of the golf club head when the club head is positioned adjacent to and rearwardly of the ball to be hit with the longitudinal axis of the club shaft directed toward the users body and the hands of the user grasping the club shaft in stroking position, and means for adjustably securing said clamp to said golf club.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said clamp is provided with a second plane determining means which is adapted to be aligned with the desired line of flight of the ball.

3. An attachment for a golf club for use with a golf ball in playing a game of golf, comprising, a member having a shaft encircling portion, means for securing said portion to the shaft of a golf club, a first sighting means rigidly caried by said member and adapted to be aligned with the desired line of flight of a golf ball which is to be driven by said club, and a second sighting means carried by said member and adapted to be placed in the plane in which must lie the line of sight between the club users sighting eye and the portion of the ball to be engaged by the portion of the striking face of the club when the club is oriented for properly hitting the ball.

4. A golf club for use with a golf ball in playing the game of golf, comprising, a ball striking surface portion, a gripping portion, and a connecting portion including a shaft member interconnecting said ball striking surface portion and said gripping portion, a sighting device carried by said connecting portion, said device provided with means for determining a plane which extends substantially normal to the plane of said surface portion, and means for determining a plane which extends through said ball striking surface portion and at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said shaft member, said angle being that angle with respect to said shaft member at which the club is designed to strike the ball.

5. The combination of claim 4 in which said first named means comprises an ear-like member and said second named means comprises an elongated sighting member.

6. An attachment for a golf club comprising a member having a clamping portion adapted to clamp to such club adjacent the head of said club, said member having a sighting portion arranged relative to said clamping portion such that when such club is correctly grasped by the golf player in a proper stance that said portion will Ill be in the line of sight from the players eyes to a line extending from the hitting edge of a golf ball and perpendicular to the desired path of flight in which said ball is to be driven.

7. An accessory for golf clubs comprising, a substantially cylindrical hollow member adapted to fit over a portion of a golf club adjacent its head, and a clamping member clamped over said hollow member, said clamping member having an indicating element adapted to be positioned in a plane perpendicular to the striking face of the club and a second indicating element adapted to determine the angle of a vertical plane with respect to the angle of the striking face of the club.

8. The combination of claim 7 in which said hollow member is a weighted member.

9. The combination of claim 7 in which said hollow member is a resilient member.

:0. An attachment for a golf club comprising, an elongated member having a concave recess opening outwardly of one surface thereof for receiving at least a.

portion of the shaft of the golf club, the axis of said recess extending transversely of said elongated member and throughout the Width of said one surface, a clamping member, means for removably securing said clamping member to said one surface of said elongated member whereby said clamping member extends across the opening of said recess and cooperates with said elongated member to clampingly secure said attachment to the shaft of the golf club in a position in which the longitcdinal ar-zis of said elongated member is in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of the hitting face of the golf club head, said elongated member being provided with a sighting means which is positioned along said elongated member in such a position that, when the club is properly orientated, it will lie in the vertical plane of sight between the golfers eye and the point on the hitting face of the golf club which strikes the ball.

11. The combination of claim 10 in which said sighting means is an end surface of said elongated member.

12. The combination of claim 10 in which said sighting means is elongated in a direction which is generally transversely of the longitudinal axis of said elongated member.

13. The combination of claim 12 in which said sighting means is an offset portion of said elongated member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 962,596 Sober .a June 28, 1910 1,091,186 Brown Mar. 24, 1914 1,331,499 Hartford Feb. 24, 1920 1,433,150 Reach Oct. 24, 1922 1,488,900 Armstrong Apr. 1, 1924 1,604,696 .lordy Oct. 26, 1926 2,135,648 Stumpf Nov. 8, 1938 2,574,599 Stieber Nov. 13, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,546 Great Britain 1899 196,429 Great Britain Apr. 26, 1913 472,237 Great Britain Mar. 19, 1937 

